More people continue to give aid to the Presidential Treatment Programme, with Hatib Janneh, the proprietor of Sea View Hotel, donating a list of valuable items, worth at least D150,250.

The donated items include bags of sugar, cartons of milk, peas, cups and spoons, tooth paste and brushes, kettles and prayer mats.

Dr Tamsir Mbowe, the director general of the Presidential Treatment Programme, took delivery of the donation. He thanked Mr Janneh for the generous gesture, adding that this reinforces the public confidence in and support for the continuity of Dr Yahya Jammeh’s treatment.

Dr Mbowe pointed to the numerous successes registered by the treatment programme, which publicly started in January 2007. According to him, the successes of the various treatments make it an onus for everyone to support the selfless services the president is rendering to humanity, saying that the “lives that are being saved and hopes being restored” could be that of anyone.

Director General Mbowe used the opportunity to thank the president for his personal contribution to the health service delivery system in the country, noting that this has impacted positively on the key health indicators of the country, including life expectancy, maternal health, as well as a significant reduction in the number of admissions.

The Kanifing Municipal Council, under the leadership of Mayor Yankuba Colley, yesterday donated D100,000 to the Presidential treatment programme.

An organisation called Jammeh Pree also donated 40 bed sheets to the treatment programme in response to the call of the director general of the Treatment Programme, Dr Tamsir Mbowe.

Reacting to the gestures, Dr Tamsir Mbowe said since the inception of the programme in January 2007, thousands of patients and their families have directly or indirectly benefited from the treatment programme.

According to the director general, the bed occupancies in the major health facilities have drastically dropped since the inception of the Presidential Treatment Programme. 

Dr Mbowe reminded the donors of a statement by the Gambian leader President Jammeh who said ill health sets the stage for poverty and under-development and said that their contribution to the treatment programme was therefore timely and highly welcome.
“This gestures will help to strengthen the health delivery system in the country,” he asserted.

Since the presidential treatment program was constituted, the central explanation put forward by President Jammeh has always been that the inspiration emanated from a divine ordinance; but for us at the home front, it was quite apparent that the earthly motivation was born out of an extraordinary genial bond between an altogether unique kind of a leader and his people; a leader who has defied almost all expectations, as far as the might of political influence is concerned.

In this contemporary world of ours, authority, especially one that is entrusted along with national responsibilities, goes with some level of unimaginable superior manifestations, often wielded at the whims and caprice of the rulers.

The trend is such that people in authority take advantage of their God-entrusted power to perpetuate ulterior demands in mere satisfaction of totally untenable feelings. With a gift as massive as this - political power, executive authority, fame, and the potential for attaining extreme riches - very few people could have chosen to dedicate themselves entirely in the service of humanity.

Imagine what it would have cost if the cure for this quarter of a century old bewilderment of an ailment had been discovered in line with the conventional scientific process! Thanks to the powerful influence of bureaucracy, it surely would have taken ages to have it available for even the wealthiest of patients, not to mention the prospect of its accessibility to the negligible class of the under-privileged.

The idea of merely offering treatment services for free, especially for a disease like HIV/AIDS, is unimaginable anywhere in the world, not to talk of extending this gesture to the provision of personal needs; from feeding to clothing, as well as housing. What makes it all the more exceptionally touching is the fact that all these responsibilities lie on the shoulders of one person. One can hardly think of any course more genuine to invest in than this.

As a matter of fact, it is none but the society itself that benefits from this inimitable show of magnanimity by the president. Giving back lost confidence to people that had lost it is equal to giving back hope, strength and ability to a whole generation of people who could have fallen prey of the repercussion of the scourge of the disease. This makes it a moral obligation for this very same society to help this causw. 

Therefore, the call by his Excellency for philanthropists to give helping hands to his treatment program couldn’t have come at a better time than this, when the impact is really being felt, given the increasing number of people coming up for it. A genuine call is worth supporting at all cost.

APA-Dakar (Senegal) Senegal’s National Assembly late on Monday adopted a non-retroactive constitutional bill adding two years to the current five-year presidential term of office, APA reports here.

The amendment concerns the first paragraph of Article 27 of the 22 January 2001. According to Senegalese officials, the bill does not apply to the present term of office.

Defending the text on behalf of the government, Senegal’s Justice Minister, Mr. Madicke Niang said the rationale of the constitutional bill is to give to the next president, “enough time” to put in place his vision of society and implement his development programme.

“We need to build and manage our country, the minister said, dismissing the argument that any such modification of the Constitution should be made through a referendum.

“It is almost impossible to discuss this issue”, he said, in response to opposition MPs who refused to vote this bill.

According to those MPs, the government should have consulted with the opposition, before tabling it before the parliament.

“At a certain point in time, you need to take responsibility and to move on”, in line with “the vision and choices of the incumbent government”, and I think that time has come’’, Madicke Niang explained.

Since the country’ independence in 1960, the duration of the presidential term of office has been changed several times, especially since the advent of the unlimited multiparty system in 1981.

It was limited to five years between 1988 and 1993 and to seven from 1993 to 2000.

Abdoulaye Wade, who was elected president in March 2000 for a seven-year term, decided to trim it down to five years, with no retroactive effect.

Meanwhile, he also decided that the president would be re-elected once.

Mr. Malang Dampha, the second defence witness in the ongoing trial of ex-Superintendent Manlafi Sanyang, on Monday told Banjul Magistrates’ Court that the accused used to pay his salaries. Testifying as defence witness, Malang Dampha told the court that he was employed by the accused as a driver and that the accused was the one who paid his salaries. He told the court that he got to know the accused during the presidential election campaign of 2001, adding that when he learned that new vehicles had been procured for the campaign, he approached the accused to solicit his consideration for the position of a driver, adding that the accused employed him there and then.

He went on to state:“ We collected the vehicles from TK Motors to Gamwater premises where the accused brought APRC flags and mounted them on the vehicles.

Further testifying, Defence Witness 2 told the court that he drove the vehicle registered BJL 4591B, noting that the vehicles were brand new vehicles.“ We took the vehicles to the provinces for testing and during the testing exercise, the vehicle I drove, BJL 4591B, was involved in an accident at Kiang and this was in 2001,” he added. He said the vehicle was thereafter towed from Kiang and parked on Gamwater in Kanifing, adducing that that was the last time he saw the vehicle.

The opposition must now be very careful and ensure that they put the good of the people of Zimbabwe before their own desire to wrestle power from Zanu-PF. Tensions are running high in the country and a repeat of what we saw in Kenya must be avoided at all costs.

MDC Party Secretary General Tendai Biti has said Mr Morgan Tsvangirai had won 50.3% of the vote to President Robert Mugabe’s 43.8%, so avoiding a run-off. The ruling Zanu-PF party has dismissed the MDC claim as “wishful thinking”.

Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga said it was irresponsible and could incite violence.

In his news conference, Mr Biti said there was “anxiety and disappointment” at the failure of the Zimbabwe Election Commission to declare presidential results.This had produced a vacuum, he said, giving room for all sorts of rumours. These rumours may be exploited by those who do not have the best interests of the nation at heart.

The time has now come for Robert Mugabe to show his true colours. The results, whatever they may be, must be adhered to. He must prove himself to be a statesman and a democrat and bow to the will of his people. There is no doubting the enormous achievements of Robert Mugabe in the past. The plight of his people in recent times has led many to believe he was no longer fit to lead and now it appears that the people of Zimbabwe are in this camp. We have written many times in these pages about the fact that leaders should not cling to power. Clinging to power shows selfishness on the part of a leader rather than the selflessness that should characterise are great leader. There must be an announcement and transparency in relation to this contest so that the people of Zimbabwe can begin to rebuild their economy and their lives.